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.Get this, there were four semi-official governments in Iraq and three more inJordan.The really "official" government in Jordan was the one led by the sonof King Hussein.Kid was a former tanker and he'd actually managed to gather apretty decent body of troops and stake out some serious territory.But therewere two more who were recognized by various ambassadors who'd survived.The King Hussein faction was okay with us rolling through.Actually, they wereasking for our help.The other two were against it and raising holy diplomatichell.Then there's Iraq.Okay, one of the factions I could dig with.The Kurds had managed to holdPage 115 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthings pretty much together.Really high death rate, but they were tribalbased already and the tribes had things worked out between them pretty well.And the Kurds just react, adapt and overcome.I'd say it's a mountain peoplething but that doesn't explain the U.S.Anyway, the Kurds were one faction.They didn't say they were the governmentof Iraq, they were the government of Kurdistan.Which by their maps includedsome parts of Iran and Turkey.They didn't have an ambassador in the U.S.The State Department didn'trecognize them at all.Of course, they just had the most effective controlover the largest area in the Middle East.But they were, officially,nonexistent.Then there's the other three (major) factions.Note, these guys weren't, any of them, as big as HAMB.At the rate GeneralDead Meat had been going he was well on his way to taking Iraq and turning itand Iran back into the Persian Empire.But all three of these guys were recognized by one or another government andnone of them were willing to let us through "Iraq."Truth was, territorially, we weren't going to be dealing with but one of them,depending on our route to Israel.If we even went to Israel."State Department thinks they can talk the Iraqis around.But Israel is notgoing to let your Nepalese in."I'd stopped dealing with the BC.I mostly was talking to the Brigade 3 thesedays."I'm not going to leave my Nepos behind.""With the Jordanians?""I'm taking them to the States.If I have to canoe over.""Nobody is willing to let you through.""And that's going to stop me exactly how?"I didn't know how much hell I was causing at home until one of the guys calledme in to watch TV.Yeah, I know.Here we are in a compound filled with rotting bodies and stillburning equipment and the guys are watching TV.What else were they going to do? There weren't enough hands to bury all thebodies.Actually, we'd done something on that score.Basically, we sprayed as much ofthe compound as we could reach with diesel and lit it up.Burned for a day orso (we used a lot of diesel and it soaked into the soil) and most of thebodies were crispy.But we couldn't get all of it and they were a health hazard.People werestaying inside away from the flies as much as possible.Flies that have beenon rotting bodies are not good for the body.We were immunized against everyfucking thing in the world but they still weren't good."What's up?"The day room is the province of the troops.Good officers go in only on dutyor if called in.The lieutenants and I had our own official "O Club" which wehad tarted up with some stuff from the "low-inventory" stores.Would youbelieve there was a fucking Ming vase in there?(Wife Edit: So that's where that came from.)(Shut up.)So, anyway, I was walking out of the commo van after another fruitlessconversation with Brigade when one of the troops waved me into the day room.There, large as fucking life, on fucking Fox, was our video.Oh.Holy.Shit.The troops loved it.They'd replayed it a couple of times themselves for shitsand giggles and then played around with the video some more.That oneconcentrated more on dying ragheads.But this was the one I'd sent to Brigade and then had, apparently, beenmarched up the chain.Fucker was supposed to be secret.Holeee shit.I was fucked.Page 116 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlDon't get me wrong.It was a good video.For a certain audience.But viewed in the wrong context? Scrambled around a little bit by the media?With CAIR doing a voice over?Holeeee shit."Hell, yeah!" I said, grinning."You're all fucking heroes, now."Hollllleeeee SHIT.I went back to the commo van.The on-duty RTO was already running to get me.Fecal storm incoming.Chapter NineCross that Strait When We Come to ItNobody knew how it had leaked out.I guess we did too good a job.Some FobbitSOB just had to send it to some friend on the Internet and then it had allgone bad.It had one of the highest hit counts on record on YouTube (which wasback up).I tried to figure out if there was some way we could get residuals,given that we'd sweated blood for it.And were about to sweat more.But that wasn't the problem.Was all that force necessary?They destroyed how much equipment?Why was the equipment still there? Hadn't all the troops come home?Why did we still have troops in Iran?Are we still going to have to fight terrorists as well as the flu? Isn't ittime for peace to have a chance?Where had the Ghurkas come from?Britain had sent an official query asking how an American unit had come to bein command of their troops.So had Nepal but that one took longer to benoticed.Except, as far as either knew, they weren't missing any Ghurkas.Butthey had on the right uniforms.They were even wearing kukris.(I told youthere was some strange shit in that place.Hell, there were cavalry sabers andsaddles and.You wouldn't believe the list.I wish I could have kept itbut there was no fucking way.)Congressional investigation.Congressional fucking investigation.Except for one problem.Witness A would be me.And I was in fucking Iran.They wanted to video-conference me in.It ended up with the Army Chief of Staff explaining.On national TV.Bet heloved that."By order of the President, we had over fourteen 'support and maintain'detachments scattered in as many countries around the world.Six wereevacuated when the security situation reached critical
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